Avalanche trade P.A. Parenteau, fifth round pick, to Canadiens for Daniel Briere

The Montreal Canadiens parted with Daniel Briere on Monday, sending him to the Colorado Avalanche in a swap for P.A. Parenteau and a fifth round pick.

Briere had his moments with the Montreal Canadiens, most notably during the postseason, when he and linemates Brandon Prust and Dale Weise contributed timely goals versus Tampa Bay and Boston.

Of course, Prust and Weise are fourth-liners, and by virtue of skating between them, Briere was playing on the fourth line. Which made his $4 million cap hit for 2014-15 seem pretty problematic. Wouldn't the Canadiens rather be spending that kind of money on a guy that can play in their top-nine, at least?

Enter Parenteau, who has the same cap hit for one more year, yes, but is five years younger, and looks like it on the ice, which is why he'll likely slot in a little higher up the lineup.

And speaking of being high, one wonders if the team in Colorado was when they made this deal. There's no shame in admitting it. It's legal. Helps you relax.

But it's not a good time to pick up the phone and make a trade, especially one that swaps these two guys. Parenteau had 14 goals and 19 assists for the Avalanche in 55 games. Briere put up 25 points in 69.

Basically, Parenteau is a better player than Briere right now. And yet somehow, the Avalanche felt the need to send along a draft pick as well, in exchange for weakening their roster

Undoubtedly, the Avs wanted out from under that second year of $4 million, and they're to bolster their depth at centre, especially with Paul Stastny leaving, and Ryan O'Reilly still on the outs. But this hardly does it, and it hardly seems worth it.